Fuck…I start to feel sorry for her again.
“Perhaps you could let me see her today,” she prompts, hesitantly testing my boundaries. “I wouldn’t stay long. I know you have access to his house. But just let me hold her a bit—”
“I can’t, Lida,” I tell her with a miserable shake of my head. “It’s not up to me—”
“How can you be so cruel?” she hisses at me, her mouth drawing downward in an ugly grimace. “As a woman, how can you not see how I’m suffering?”
“Lida,” I say cautiously, hoping to diffuse this before she gets any more bent out of shape. “I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you. But this isn’t—”
Her eyes narrow at me and her lips curl back in a sneer. Her words are venomous.
And loud.
“That’s easy for you to say, bitch. You’re fucking Legend and playing mom to my daughter,” she snarls at me. The mother sitting at the table next to us gasps and looks at us with rounded eyes.
This is the point I realize it was a serious mistake to ever engage her. I mumble an apology and quickly tuck my iPad in my satchel. Totally willing to abandon my coffee and banana nut bread, I start to push up from my chair.
Lida’s hand clamps down on my wrist, her sharp nails digging into my skin, making me wince. Her voice is shrill and she’s clearly not ashamed to be a spectacle. “You don’t know me but I don’t let anything stand in my way. If you’re not willing to help me, Pepper, then you’ve become my enemy.”
Okay…fuck it. I suppose we’re enemies.
I twist my arm away from her, feeling her nails slice into my skin as I do so and I grab my phone. When I hold it up in front of me, she sneers, “What are you going to do? Call the cops?”
“No,” I say calmly as I hit the record button. “I’m videotaping this so the judge can see just how crazy you are when it comes time to decide whether or not you should be able to see your daughter.”
Lida’s face morphs.
The lines of anger smooth and her eyes go soft and solicitous. Her voice is calm and almost angelic sounding. She inclines her head toward me—toward the camera. “It was lovely seeing you, Pepper. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.”
I tap the button and turn the video off. She’s not going to let me capture her crazy. I consider for a moment asking the mom at the table for her contact information, because she was a witness to Lida’s antics, but I decide I need to make an exit right now while Lida’s got her sane hat on.
I give her a polite smile before hitching the strap of my satchel over my shoulder. I turn around and walk away from her, not able to shake the feeling that I should never turn my back on her.
I get the impression that she’s the type that might just stick a knife in it.
When I reach my car, I call Lucy. I update her on what happened and tell her to just be aware. I suggest she stay in the house with Charlie, and God bless her…she doesn’t freak out. She assures me she’s fine.
“Do me a favor,” I ask her gently as I start my car. “Pack a bag for Charlie. Enough to get us through the weekend in Boston.”
“Sure,” she says. “Going to catch an earlier flight?”
I was set to fly out tomorrow with Charlie and I’d meet Legend at the airport. From there, we were going to go to his parents’ house for a little while where we’d drop Charlie off. Legend had arranged for us to stay in a swank hotel for the All-Star weekend, which would consist of skills competitions and a play-off–style tournament between the four league divisions.
“No,” I tell her, even though I did consider that for a short moment. “I’d have to tell Legend what I was doing if I took an earlier flight and I don’t want to worry him while he’s getting prepared for a game. I’m going to go stay at my parents with her. I don’t think Lida is stupid enough to do something, but on the off chance she is, my dad has a gun and isn’t afraid to use it.”
Lucy goes silent for a moment. “You really think it would come to that?”
I give a nervous laugh, shaking off my apprehension. “No, of course not. I don’t think Lida’s dangerous. I just don’t think she’s very sensible. Still, I’d just feel better with Charlie at my parents’ house for the evening. Do you agree?”
“Totally,” she says. “I’ll have everything packed by the time you get here.”
“Thanks, Lucy,” I say softly.